A Necessary Crushing

Not all creativity deserves expression. Editing passionate inspiration with the instinct of a formed aesthetic is a necessary filtering of the creative impulse.

Few young artists understand the temptation of false creativity masking itself as inventive genius — but the experienced eye, the fruitful expectation, and the worthy gut — are all necessary temperers against the custodial harm perpetrated by the purposefully indecent and the eternally unrecognized obscene in the name of True Art.

The brightest indicator of a false creativity in need of extinction is when the artist claims no influence or historical presence in the inspiration of the creation. When there is no conflict of context, there can be no greater meaning.

There is no such thing as an original idea.

The only creative course of thought left to us is in the exploration of seemingly disassociated experiences twined together to sever common values — helping to break expectation with new exposition that has a predestined intellectual provenance.

We must not be fooled by the folly of the young creator mocking us for not understanding a genius that does not exist, and that falsity must never find meaningful purchase in the contemporary timeline of humankind.

It could be, Gordon, and that’s the problem — the editorial process becomes corrupted by the want for money instead of the service to the aesthetic. That’s how cultures get dumbed-down as time progresses.

I think there needs to be some sort of editorial and aesthetic checking going on, Gordon, unless the authors are already well-trained and disciplined by a formal, outside, source. As you know, I have argued in the past that all bloggers should be licensed to keep up the technical skill and writing quality found on the Internet.

Anne!
I would say those who are a part of a community with a communal history of what has come before — without that perspective we can’t begin to quantify the quality of new work. Art cannot exist in a vacuum.

David!
What a great article! Totally agree with the ideas, especially how in the conflict of context we find greater meaning.
But I’m not sure I understand what you meant in your comment above (“I would say those…”).
I find that sometimes communities, often by their very nature, become insular and closed – mostly to the very ideas that seek to open it up and push it forward. this is when it becomes unfortunate to let all artistic endeavours be subject to the morality of the community. i guess that’s why most liberal and open societies ensure that they stay that way by championing free expression.

Dananjay —
No True Artist can survive in a community that does not support and share their values and norms and that’s why, in the USA at least, you see such a migration of young artists from the middle of the nation to its coasts: New York and Los Angeles. They are fleeing the middle to be accepted by the extremes so they can begin to live again and to create in a context in which they are recognized and understood.

It is the same in the UK – not only for artists and artisans but also for some of the less traditional religious groups such as Quakers and Buddhists.
I live in the extreme south west of the UK – and we have an extremely high number of artists, potters, furniture makers, photographers and writers in our midst – alongside a very healthy group of Quakers and the people who run Resurgence (www.resurgence.org) and the Yarner Trust – both of those withing 5 miles of here.
The same is repeated all along the south west coast of Devon and Cornwall – Wales and Scotland.

Nicola!
I want to live where you live! I think it is very keen how like minds and aesthetics find each other in the midst of the mess of the world. It is even more interesting how important geography is in the location of those who seek out the same context. It’s as if the landscape determines the minds and spirit of the its inhabitants.
Except when we’re all online, of course… SMILE!

What I find particularly interesting – having lived here for nearly 15 years now is how much people who have moved here and the natural inhabitants respect each other for what they do and respect each others space and privacy.
I have had no problems with what I do here … it must be about the only place in the UK which hasn’t!
What you also have to remember is that when you are online you also create your own landscape and space – cyber geography 😉

I wonder if you picked the land or if the land picked you, NIcola?
The web is full of strange intrigue. Sometimes I think there are too many ultra niches that create a strange myopia that leads to dangerous thinking that would not survive for a moment in the real, tangible, wilds.